Manually usable corn cutter



Feb. 19, 1963 l. TRENOR MANUALLY USABLE CORN CUTTER Filed Jan. 24, 1961Irene Trenor INVENTOR.

BY unlfiuayfiM Fig. 4

United States atent O 3,677,909 MANUALLY USABLE CQRN CUTTER IreneTrenor, 210 W. 12th St., Streator, 111. Filed Jan. 24, 1961, Ser. No.84,638 2 Claims. (Cl. 146-4) having featured improvements which achievethe desired ends in a simplified and practical manner.

Briefly, the invention embodies a base and a complemental manuallyusable implement. The base comprises a simple disk-likeflplatehaving acentralized upstanding cone and is open at upper and lower ends.

cob impaling and anchoring prong. The implement comprises a verticallyelongated split sleeve provided with handles and an improved cuttingedge.

In carrying out a preferred embodiment of the invention an elongatedlongitudinally split downwardly tapering sleeve is employed. This sleevewhen being used sheathes or envelopes the cob and kernels thereon and isforced vertically and downwardly by way of a pair of diametricallyopposite handles or handgrips.

The sleeve is of prerequisite length relative to the length of what maybe considered an average ear of corn and it is constructed ofnon-corrodible sheet material, is open at upper and lower ends, isresilient and expansible and contractible to achieve clean cleavage ofthe kernels of corn, said sleeve expanding and contracting as conditionsrequire to accomplish highly satisfactory and efficient results.

The handgrips are novel in that they have upper horizontal end portionswhich are directed inwardly toward each other and which radiate from theupper edge of the sleeve, the adjacent inner ends being riveted to thesleeve. These handgrips are of prescribed length and shape for comfortand convenience and the lower ends are securely fastened to mediandiameterically opposite portions of the sleeve with a view towardthrusting the sleeve downwardly with reliability and making it possibleto do the desired cutting and stripping result. In fact, the result canordinarily be accomplished by way of a single continuous downwardstroke.

In addition, the lower or leading ends of the overlapped portions of thesplit sleeve at the tapered bottom of the sleeve are arcuately curvedand diverge outwardly and downwardly and merge into and meet with themain cutting edge, said main cutting edge being substantially straightand disposed in a plane at right angles to the length wise axis of thesleeve.

The invention also contemplates the use of a base comprising a simpledisk-like flat-faced plate having a central upstanding impaling andanchoring prong which penetrates the ear of corn, that is the butt end,thus securely holding the ear in a vertical ready-for-use position.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accom panying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing the complete device;namely, the base, and the manually usable cutter implement and furthershowing the ear of corn ready to be stripped of its kernels;

FIG. 2 is a view on a slightly larger scale which may be said to be afront elevation;

FIG. 3 is a section of a fragmentary nature taken on the vertical line33 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the implement seen for example in FIG. 2.

3,077,909 Patented Feb. 19, '1 963 With reference to FIG. 1 the base isdenoted by the ameter and material having a flat bottom 8 to rest on atable or other stationary support and having a substantially flat top 10to accommodate the butt or large end 12 of the ear of corn 14. Theimpaling or anchoring prong 16 is joined with and rises from the centralportion of the disk and is embedded in the cob to hold the ear of cornin a vertical ready-to-function position.

The manually usable cutting implement is denoted as an entity by thenumeral 18 and comprises an imperforate vertically elongated truncatedconical sleeve. That is to say the sleeve is in the form of a downwardlytapering The upper end is denoted at 20. The lower end is denoted at 22and this end is sharpened to provide a cutting edge 24 which may bedescribed as in a plane at right angles to the longitudinal axis of theover-all sleeve. The sleeve is longitudinally split and is made ofresilient metal or equivalent material and the lengthwise edge portions26 and 28 overlap each other and obviously permit the sleeve to expandand contract depending on the cross sectional size of the ear of cornwhich is to be acted on. It will be noted particularly in FIGS. 2 and 3that the lower end portions of the overlapping portions 26 and 28 havecurved or arcuately formed auxiliary cutting edges 30 and 32. Theseedges may be said to diverge outwardly and downwardly and to in thismanner form an inverted V-shaped leading end portion. Conversely theedges 30 and 32 may be said to join at their lower ends with the maincutting edge 24 from which points they curve upwardly and converge toform an expansible and contractible crotch 34.

The handles or handgrips are identical in construction and are mountedon the expansible and contractable sleeve at diametrically oppositepoints each handgrip being denoted by the numeral 36. The handgrips havelongitudinally bowed main portions 38 the lower ends 49 of which arebent laterally and riveted or otherwise secured in place at 42. Thesepoints of attachment 42 may be described as not only diametricallyopposite each other but intermediate the upper and lower ends of thesleeve considered as an entity. The upper inwardly directed end portionsof the handgrips are horizontally disposed as at '44 and the free endsare bent down as at 46 in FIG. 1 where they are riveted or otherwisesecured in place at 48. This arrangement of a pair of handgrips atdiametrically opposite points with the handgrips shaped and mounted asshown provides reliable handling means for the sleeve. After applyingthe cutting edges 24 and 3t and 32 over the upper end of the ear of corn14 as will be obvivous from FIG. 1 and catching hold of the two handles36, the mode of use and manner of operation will be self-evident. As isthe case with the use of all sorts of kitchen and table articles andimplements the user has to experiment with this device and after a shorttime he will get the knack of using it and may develop his own techniquefor best and most efiicient results.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention asclaimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A manually usable implement for cleaving kernels of corn from a cornear supported in a vertical kernel stripping position comprising: anelongated one-piece open-ended truncated conical sleeve of a length thatit may be axially aligned with and forcibly pressed downwardly over thecorn ear, said sleeve being circular in cross-section from end to end,being split longitudinally and made of resilient sheet material, thelengthwise end portions of said sleeve coincident with the split part ofthe sleeve being overlapped and slidably contacting each other, saidsleeve being radially expansible and contractible and tapering from theupper trailing end toward the lower leading end, the lower leading endof said sleeve having a main cutting edge and cooperating associatedvauxiliary cutting edges, said main cutting edge being disposed in aplane at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the sleeve, saidauxiliary cutting edges merging into and being joined at lower leadingends with the coacting adjacent end portions of said main cutting edgeand curving and converging upwardly from the plane of said main cuttingedge and merging with the respective marginal edges of the lower endportions of said overlapped sleeve portions and providing an invertedV-shaped expansible and contractible crotch, and, in combination, a pairof hand-grips attached to diametrically opposite surfaces of said sleeveand individually positioned on the sleeve lengthwise thereof and at anapproximate 90 from and relative to the vertex of said crotch.

2. The structure defined in claim 1 and wherein said grips have coplanarlateral upper ends projecting radially outward in a plane from the upperend of said sleeve and have lower ends aflixed to portions of the sleeveintermediate the upper and lower ends of the sleeve to facilitatehandling and controlling the expansible and contractible movements ofthe overlapped portions and the descending cleaving action of said mainand auxiliary cutting edges.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 53,849McGill Apr. 10, 1866 249,441 Woods Nov. 8, 1881 359,950 Wilcox Mar. 22,1887 1,395,929 Ryder Nov. 1, 1921 2,447,301 Wright Aug. 17, 1948

1. A MANUALLY USABLE IMPLEMENT FOR CLEAVING KERNELS OF CORN FROM A CORNEAR SUPPORTED IN A VERTICAL KERNEL STRIPPING POSITION COMPRISING: ANELONGATED ONE-PIECE OPEN-ENDED TRUNCATED CONICAL SLEEVE OF A LENGTH THATIT MAY BE AXIALLY ALIGNED WITH AND FORCIBLY PRESSED DOWNWARDLY OVER THECORN EAR, SAID SLEEVE BEING CIRCULAR IN CROSS-SECTION FROM END TO END,BEING SPLIT LONGITUDINALLY AND MADE OF RESILIENT SHEET MATERIAL, THELENGTHWISE END PORTIONS OF SAID SLEEVE COINCIDENT WITH THE SPLIT PART OFTHE SLEEVE BEING OVERLAPPED AND SLIDABLY CONTACTING EACH OTHER, SAIDSLEEVE BEING RADIALLY EXPANSIBLE AND CONTRACTIBLE AND TAPERING FROM THEUPPER TRAILING END TOWARD THE LOWER LEADING END, THE LOWER LEADING ENDOF SAID SLEEVE HAVING A MAIN CUTTING EDGE AND COOPERATING ASSOCIATEDAUXILIARY CUTTING EDGES, SAID MAIN CUTTING EDGE BEING DISPOSED IN APLANE AT RIGHT ANGLES TO THE LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF THE SLEEVE, SAIDAUXILIARY CUTTING EDGES MERGING INTO AND BEING JOINED AT LOWER LEADINGENDS WITH THE COACTING ADJACENT END PORTIONS OF SAID MAIN CUTTING EDGEAND CURVING AND CONVERGING UPWARDLY FROM THE PLANE OF SAID MAIN CUTTINGEDGE AND MERGING WITH THE RESPECTIVE MARGINAL EDGES OF THE LOWER ENDPORTIONS OF SAID OVERLAPPED SLEEVE PORTIONS AND PROVIDING AN INVERTEDV-SHAPED EXPANSIBLE AND CONTRACTIBLE CROTCH, AND, IN COMBINATION, A PAIROF HAND-GRIPS ATTACHED TO DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSITE SURFACES OF SAID SLEEVEAND INDIVIDUALLY POSITIONED ON THE SLEEVE LENGTHWISE THEREOF AND AT ANAPPROXIMATE 90* FROM AND RELATIVE TO THE VERTEX OF SAID CROTCH.